PAPER PULPIT: Christian community

Friday

Jan 25, 2013 at 7:12 PMJan 25, 2013 at 7:15 PM

Twenty-two years ago, my family left Salt Lake City to move to Gadsden. Here, too, we found a community who loved God and valued church activity. We visited Sunday services at two different denominations. We found the Spirit and people very much like who we left in Utah. Even the bell at the end of Sunday School was familiar. Our own church in Gadsden seemed like home within a few weeks.

Dr. George C. "Terry" RobinsonSpecial to The Times

Twenty-two years ago, my family left Salt Lake City to move to Gadsden. Here, too, we found a community who loved God and valued church activity. We visited Sunday services at two different denominations. We found the Spirit and people very much like who we left in Utah. Even the bell at the end of Sunday School was familiar. Our own church in Gadsden seemed like home within a few weeks. Here in Gadsden, also, is an open love of God and prayer. Charity is a primary focus of Christianity. Mission trips and collections for worthy causes are common. Prayer in congregations, circles and groups brings spiritual comfort. Church groups mobilize to clean up after disasters. “You are in our prayers” is a common refrain.My wife developed cancer of the breast in 2010. Despite the tragedy, the Lord has blessed our lives. Our friends from church and community provide words of inspiration, meals, visits, rides and companionship. We feel their love and the Savior’s.One episode stands out because it was so unexpected. My wife visited UAB for a second opinion about chemotherapy. Afterward, she drove around looking for a wig shop for when she lost her hair. She made a U-turn and didn’t see the sign posted against it. A policeman pulled her over.To her, at that moment, with cancer, losing her hair, and now the police, it seemed as though the universe was against her. She broke down in tears and her story spilled out. The officer put away his ticket book. He related to her that he was a cancer survivor. He developed cancer 10 years earlier, in his mid-30s, when he had young children. He offered assurance that she would also be a survivor. His type of cancer usually occurs in young children. He hoped that because he got it, a child was spared. The officer shared a scripture, Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”He said she would be in his prayers, and bid her a safe trip home. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, an apostle in my church, said that you can’t have the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God. Try as you might, the results will be cosmetic and will not last.This saying also works the other way: You won’t have the Fatherhood of God without the brotherhood of man. In a community where God is respected, children are a priority and people help each other freely, God’s Spirit manifests itself abundantly.

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